The Speaker, Kwara state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ali Ahmad, has said that non-implementation of budget is highest constitutional political offence that attracts impeachment.

Speaking during passage of 2016 appropriation bill on the floor of the House on Thursday, the Speaker charged members of the House to ensure that the budget was implemented beyond 70 per cent minimum goal.

"We must police the budget and, in circumstances that its provisions are not being implemented, issues decrees and orders, so to say, as stipulated by the Constitution. We know that the highest political offence in our Constitution is non-implementation of the budget, and the sentence, when convicted by the legislature, is not imprisonment but capital political punishment", he said.

Speaking on the political problem in Kogi state, as it relates to its House of Assembly, Kwara Speaker called on the federal government to intervene to save the nation's democracy.

"The Speakers' Forum is an organization of Speakers. Currently we are having a challenge in Kogi. On Kogi issue, by next week, you are going to a see action by the Speakers Forum. I was part of the delegation that went to the same Kogi when they did the same thing that a minority purportedly removed the Kogi Speaker. The National Assembly has constitutional duty to take over any House of Assembly that can not sit. Kogi Assembly is a charade.

They cannot sit. The unfortunate thing is that this is happening in APC government what also happened in PDP government. We can not sit there and say we are for due process and rule of law when it seems that the Constitution is being butchered and nothing to remedy the situation is being done.

It is not acceptable because the minority can not have the power to outdo the majority, but the minority had the support of the Commissioner of Police, governor and the Inspector-general of Police and the President is there and you are saying you are a government of due process. Those five people who are obviously in the minority can not close the door but the police is there. What are we saying? This is not the rule of law. For me it is unfortunate that our party, APC is involved in this. I call on Mr President to intervene.

Next week we will meet the House of Representatives, they have been proactive, they have set up a panel to go to Kogi State. It is good, they will come back with a recommendation that the House of Representatives should take over the functions of the House and they will pass their budget because those five members can not form quorum to do those functions. That is my opinion. That man is not a Speaker.

"I am calling on Mr. President not to allow the issue in Kogi to continue. You can not sit down as if you are unconcerned when you see the rule of law and the due process is being butchered. You can not just sit. He should intervene because if the Commissioner of Police or some police operative did not intervene, five people can not overpower the majority. If you now standby and do nothing, you are then supporting indirectly impunity and it is happening in APC. If it were a PDP government, I will not even have raised an eye-brow but it is happening in APC controlled state.

Q: Some court indigene said they would go to court to stop the House of Representatives from taking over the functions of the Kogi State House of Assembly...?

"It can not hold. The Constitution specifically They can go to court 10,000 times. They can not win. No court wil stop the National Assembly from doing its function. The judiciary is an arm of government. No court can stop another arm of government from performing its constitutional role.

The House of Reps has the constitutional duty to take over the functions of any House of Assembly that can not do its functions. No court can give that order because it is a specific directive in the Constitution that the House of Representatives should take over. The previous House of Reps did the same thing for the same PDP. What is happening now?" he said.